Whale watchers say their industry, now worth over $1.5 billion per year, has come of age, and want recognition at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) – to the consternation of whaling nations.

The annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission drew to a close yesterday having agreed steps ecologists say will make the seas safer for the threatened giants, to the disgust of whaling nations.

The annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission wound up today with the 51 member organization more deeply divided than ever. Full Story

The numbers and movements of an obscure sub-species of blue whale are intriguing conservationists. Full Story

Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe confirmed Thursday that Japan will continue whaling in the Antarctic despite an International Whaling Commission (IWC) resolution calling for a ban on its “research whaling” program.

Anti-whaling nations blocked Japanese requests Wednesday to resume commercial whaling, calling for more research into stocks before any easing of a 17-year international ban.

A baby Risso’s dolphin that beached itself this week died Wednesday in a tank at a Florida International University marine center, officials said.

Did sonar exercises in May by a Navy destroyer, the USS Shoup, cause several porpoises to strand themselves and die on area beaches, including Whidbey Island? Full Sto

A 20-foot gray whale was spotted Wednesday morning swimming into the mouth of the Samish River, raising concerns that the huge mammal could become stranded. Full Story

Dolphins in Cardigan Bay will be protected by a water ranger patrolling the coastline if a bid for European funding is successful. Full Story